Preseason rankings....

[Oldgoldandwhite]

We need more three and outs from the Defense. We need more 2nd and fours from the offense. Better special teams and my goodness, hit more than 40% of your passes.

 

[Longestday]

@slugboy I think the data is suspect.. how in the world do they have us -2.8 for UNC.... Is it because it is at UNC which gives them 3 points?

 

[slugboy]

@slugboy I think the data is suspect.. how in the world do they have us -2.8 for UNC.... Is it because it is at UNC which gives them 3 points?

He has us roughly equal on a neutral field with USF, UNC, and Pitt. All three games are away, which leads to the -2 1/2 or -3.

 

[jacketup]

I don’t disagree. You’ll generally lose some of the close games. But it isn’t like it’s murderer’s row. There isn’t a team we face other than Clemson where I think we have no shot.

And other than Alcorn and BGSU, there isn't a team that doesn't have a shot against us. Clemson and, unfortunately, UG, are very long shots. That puts us back around .500

This team will better than the 2017 version. Then the unknowns come in, chief among them injuries. We are still thin on the OL. What you saw last year was a very banged up OL by the time we got to Duke, UVa and UG. That could easily happen again. Or not.

The key to this offense is not the QB. It's Johnson's ability to change blocking schemes during the game. That's hard for him to do when there is no continuity on the OL and at A-back.

 

[Jacket in Dairyland]

And other than Alcorn and BGSU, there isn't a team that doesn't have a shot against us. Clemson and, unfortunately, UG, are very long shots. That puts us back around .500

This team will better than the 2017 version. Then the unknowns come in, chief among them injuries. We are still thin on the OL. What you saw last year was a very banged up OL by the time we got to Duke, UVa and UG. That could easily happen again. Or not.

The key to this offense is not the QB. It's Johnson's ability to change blocking schemes during the game. That's hard for him to do when there is no continuity on the OL and at A-back.

Complete and total agreement on this . Every year we count bodies on the OL and tell ourselves " we will be fine ". And then , almost every year we turn into either " we are too thin " , or " we are too young " , or some years it's BOTH. The OL recruiting and coaching has not shown enough consistency to withstand 2 or more problems on the depth and still be as successful with execution as they need to be for control of time of possession, which is critical to our offensive success. Without a viable passing game to move the chains faster , we are being forced to play nearly perfect to sustain long drives. I am hopeful we will get more turnovers and pressures from the D to give us some shorter fields and quicker scores. Still predicting 7-5 with a minor bowl unless OL depth holds up and then it's 9-3 and a better bowl.

 

[smathis30]

@slugboy I think the data is suspect.. how in the world do they have us -2.8 for UNC.... Is it because it is at UNC which gives them 3 points?

A little that a little they won't likely have 8 starters out with injuries playing us again.last year for them was very 2015-GT Esque with the injury bug for them

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Complete and total agreement on this . Every year we count bodies on the OL and tell ourselves " we will be fine ". And then , almost every year we turn into either " we are too thin " , or " we are too young " , or some years it's BOTH. The OL recruiting and coaching has not shown enough consistency to withstand 2 or more problems on the depth and still be as successful with execution as they need to be for control of time of possession, which is critical to our offensive success. Without a viable passing game to move the chains faster , we are being forced to play nearly perfect to sustain long drives. I am hopeful we will get more turnovers and pressures from the D to give us some shorter fields and quicker scores. Still predicting 7-5 with a minor bowl unless OL depth holds up and then it's 9-3 and a better bowl.

All non-factories have this problem, it not unique to GT.

 

[alagold]

I’ll have some of that!

unfortunately it is not crazy to see 3-5 going into miami, in fact we might be udogs in 5-6 games of those

 

[sidewalkGTfan]

unfortunately it is not crazy to see 3-5 going into miami, in fact we might be udogs in 5-6 games of those

Fortunately, it’s not crazy that we could be 7-1 or 6-2 going into Miami. As usual, it’s always whether you’re a glass half full kinda guy or a glass half empty.

 

[sidewalkGTfan]

I'm still having a hard time seeing better than 6-6 due to the schedule. We got tired of Gailey's 7-5 seasons, and now we'd be happy with that. Forget talking about Clemson, we need to beat Duke.

I would sign up today for a repeat of the last 4 years, with all of the highs and lows, before I’d sign up for 4 years of Gailey’s 7-5 seasons.